Proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells are fast approaching commercialization for application in the transportation and stationary sectors. One of the needs for the operation of a PEM fuel cell is that of high purity hydrogen with less than ˜10 ppm of impurities such as CO. It is therefore expected that if PEM fuel cells are to have wide applications, an infrastructure to produce tonnage quantities of high purity hydrogen has to be available.
Presently tonnage hydrogen is produced by reformation of hydrocarbon fuel followed by the water gas shift reaction and pressure swing adsorption (PSA) of the CO2. The major disadvantage of the current process especially in reference to PEM fuel cell application is that the purity levels that can be attained are low (80-90%). Impurities such as CO and CH4 remain in the hydrogen which can poison the anodes of the PEM fuel cell.